Dr. Albadr Alshateri is a professor at the UAE National Defense College in Abu Dhabi. He earned a Ph.D from the University of Michigan in comparative politics, international relations, and political economy as well as two masters degrees in political science and in Middle Eastern and North African studies. He holds a BA from Indiana University, where he studied political science and Near Eastern languages and cultures, as well as a certificate in African studies. Dr. Alshateri has received numerous awards, including a prize from the Society for Arab Gulf Studies (USA) for his dissertation titled “The Political Economy of State Formation: The United Arab Emirates in Comparative Perspective.” Dr. Alshateri has contributed articles to Al Ittihad (Abu Dhabi), Al Khaleej (Sharjah), The National (Abu Dhabi), American Diplomacy, and Gulf News (Dubai).